UNCONFIRMED debate on "Unrelated"

[RioBravoReptiles]

What does UNRELATED mean to you, is it important and why? or why not?
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I posted a poll on this subject some time ago (can't find it now??) but probably because I didn't put enough thought into the questions I was unable to find out very much on the subject. This I suppose, is the essay portion of the quiz!
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So please share your thoughts! If you will also say whether or not you breed Boa constrictor or plan to, that would be extra help..
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Thanks in advance for any info or opinion. Gus.

[Aaron_NSBM]

found it for you..look up a couple post!

[RioBravoReptiles]

Originally Posted by northstarboasandmore

found it for you..look up a couple post!

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Thanks! but still try the ESSAY section here!

[morti]

I do currently breed Boa constrictor on a small scale. My goal is specifically BCI Morphs.

The Following is my opinion. The majority of my opinion is based on research but some of it is "morals".

I would like to get out of the way up front that Inbreeding Is Bad. It has been proven to be detrimental to the viability of the offspring many times over both in the wild and in captive environments. Most of the studies were done on either self-fertilization of plants and/or sibling to sibling breeding of animals. The effects of inbreeding seem to climb at an exponential rate with successive generations rather than a linear increase. Because of this, I feel that true inbreeding (ie: sibling to sibling or offspring to parent) should never occur in a captive environment for more than 2 filial generations.

When do I feel that inbreeding is acceptable?

It is my opinion that, in order to prove out a new morph, inbreeding is acceptable for 1-2 filial generations. If possible, I would prefer to see parent to offspring breeding rather than sibling to sibling breeding. The reason for this is as follows: Each offspring of the original breeding acquires approximately half of it's genetics from each parent. If a child is bred back to a parent, the resultant offspring have a smaller chance of getting any undesirable distilled traits than they would if bred sibling to sibling.

I also feel that in some situations the number of unrelated specimens of a particular species is so under-represented in captivity that there may be no option other than to inbreed founding stock. If, for whatever reason, importing “fresh blood” from the wild is not an option, and the pair of animals in question seem to be the only ones around, a careful breeding program needs to be established that progressively reduces the direct relationship between all offspring in the future. This does not seem to be a problem with any animal in genus Boa.

When do I feel that inbreeding is NOT acceptable?

Any time that it is easily avoidable. If I have a pair of sibling het for albino boas (as an example), I do not feel that it is acceptable to breed this pair because unrelated animals are so easy to acquire. If, however, I had a sibling pair of het for leucistic BCC from Brazil (I can only dream!) I feel that I would be almost obligated to breed them to each other as this would be the only pair in the states.

I am sorry for starting with a semi-unrelated lecture. That was the long form of the answer to “Is Unrelated important?” The short answer would be “Yes. Very.”

What does “Unrelated” actually mean?

I feel that animals of 1st cousin or further distant are officially unrelated. Any closer relationship (ie: sibling, parent, aunt/uncle) are officially related. 1st cousin relationship assumes that both F1 siblings were bred to un-related animals that were also unrelated to each other. If both F1 siblings were bred to another pair of F1 siblings, the relationship would be significantly closer than cousins.

I know that my opinion is not going to win any popularity contests, but I am kind of used to that by now.

[RioBravoReptiles]

Fabulous, MORTI...
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More!

[Aaron_NSBM]

I agree with Morti! That was very well said!

[RioBravoReptiles]

Originally Posted by northstarboasandmore

I agree with Morti! That was very well said!

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CHEATER!